State of New Mexico
House of Representatives
FORTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION, 1997
February 19, 1997
Mr. Speaker:
Your APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, to whom
has been referred
HOUSE BILL 568, as amended
has had it under consideration and reports same with
recommendation that it DO PASS, amended as follows:
1. Strike House Judiciary Committee Amendments 2, 15 and 23.
2. On page 1, line 17, before the period insert "; DECLARING
AN EMERGENCY".
3. On page 11 and 12, strike Subsection B in its entirety and
insert in lieu thereof:
"B. The commission shall be appointed for two-year terms and
shall be composed of:
(1) the secretary of the corrections department, who
shall serve as chairman;
(2) a member appointed by the New Mexico supreme court;
(3) one representative appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives;
(4) one senator appointed by the president pro tempore of
the senate;
(5) one representative and one senator appointed by the
minority leader of the house of representatives and the senate,
respectively;
(6) one member appointed by the governor."
4. On pages 13 through 16, strike all of Sections 10 through
12 and insert in lieu thereof:
"Section 10. [NEW MATERIAL] OVERCROWDING--POPULATION CONTROL
MECHANISM--PROCEDURES.--
A. When the inmate population of the corrections
department facilities, exclusive of the inmate population housed in
facilities used to relieve interim overcrowding, exceeds one hundred
twelve percent of rated capacity on or before June 30, 1999 or one
hundred percent of rated capacity after June 30, 1999, for a period
of thirty consecutive days, the following measures shall be taken to
reduce capacity:
(1) the corrections department shall engage in all
lawful and professionally appropriate efforts to reduce the prison
population to one hundred twelve percent or one hundred percent of
rated capacity as applicable, including in-state and out-of-state
prisoner transfers;
(2) if prison population is still in excess of one
hundred twelve percent or one hundred percent rated capacity as
applicable after sixty consecutive days, the secretary of
corrections shall notify the commission. Included in the
notification shall be a list of prisoners who are within one hundred
eighty days of their projected release date;
(3) the commission shall convene within ten days
to consider the release of prisoners on the list provided by the
corrections department. The commission shall also discuss with the
corrections department the impact on population of possible changes
in the classification system and expanding incarceration
alternatives. Victims of those prisoners shall receive appropriate
notification that the prisoners may be released before sentence
completion. If requested, the commission shall hear testimony or
review the written statement of a victim or relative of a victim, as
well as any public official who wishes to object to the release of a
particular prisoner. For prisoners as to whom an objection is made,
the commission shall deliberate on the release of the prisoner
individually;
(4) for prisoners approved by the commission for
release, the commission shall grant emergency release credits in
ten-day increments that will be applied to the sentence or sentences
being served by the prisoners. The commission shall order release
of the appropriate number of prisoners to reduce the prison
population to the applicable rated capacity; and
(5) notwithstanding any other provisions of this
section, no prisoner shall be released:
(a) unless the prisoner has a parole plan
pursuant to applicable parole board regulations;
(b) if the information concerning the
prisoner is discovered to be materially inaccurate;
(c) if the prisoner commits a crime while
incarcerated or receives a disciplinary infraction;
(d) if the prisoner fails a drug screening
test within ten days of the scheduled release; or
(e) if the effect of a prisoner release will
result in the loss of federal funds to any agency of the state.
B. If a bill is introduced during a legislative session
that proposes to create a new criminal offense, proposes the
imposition of mandatory sentencing or proposes an increase to an
existing sentence, the corrections department shall provide the
legislature with:
(1) a fiscal impact report for a period five years
into the future; and
(2) a report regarding the increased number of
prison beds that will be needed for a period five years into the
future.
Section 11. TERMINATION OF AGENCY LIFE--TRANSFER OF
FUNCTIONS.--The corrections population control commission is
terminated on June 30, 2003. On July 1, 2003, the secretary of
corrections shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the
commission.".
5. Renumber sections, reletter subsections and renumber
paragraphs to correspond with these amendments.
Respectfully submitted,
Max Coll, Chairman
Adopted Not Adopted
(Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk)
Date
The roll call vote was 12 For 3 Against
Yes: 12
No: Saavedra, Townsend, Wallace
Excused: Picraux, Watchman
Absent: None
.117507.1
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